Suai River and Kampong Iran: Mothers in Waiting

 We had an interesting visit to Kampong Iran, after I was tipped off about a century old Malay(?) house. I asked some friends about getting to Kampong Iran which was by the banks of the Suai River.

suai river is a large river and was famous for tales of Iban migration. At the same time the Vaie people of Bintulu also make claims of their settlements in the Suai Valley up to Kampong Iran.

The name Iran could be a short form of the Malay word Hairan so there was a legend about the settlement of Vaie people in that kampong. The pioneers were said to say "Hairan." when they saw an appiration there., Nevertheless they decided to chose the left bank of the Suai River at that spot and settled down there. Thus Kampong Iran developed from that time onwards.

The folks here are mainly Vaie people and Ibans who live in their seperate longhouses along the river. They were originally padi farmers sponsored to start farming in the Suai valley by Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke. /the hardworking Ibans were also agressive jungle product foragers, exporting rattan, jelutong and damar to Niah and even Miri. Later when timber merchants came to the Sua, they were also very industrious loggers.

Today the Ibans in the Suai grow their own oil palm.

fishing has been a mainstay of both the Vaie and the Ibans. Prawn fishing is a local tourist attraction here.

The photo is of a hardworking fisherman who has fashioned a boat from a repurposed blue water tank.

It was a good visit for my friend Chen Lu (Mei Sieng) and I.

although there were some language problems, we managed to speak to some Iban ladies who were waiting for their children studying in SK Kampong Iran (a very modern 21st century school). The ladies were so friendly that they were willing to share their lunch with us.

The Iban ladies were comfortable sitting on the floor of the pengkalan (ma tou) while waiting throughout the morning. There is no shop in Kpg Iran for these ladies to wait.

The scene brought into my mind the Hua Khiaw coffee shop in Sibu where Iban ladies waited for their school going children the whole morning. These Iban ladies have come all the way from the villages of Bintangor to send their children to Methodist Primary School in Sibu.

Longhouse women do that for their children when there is no boarding facilities for primary school nearby.

This is now a new kind of social phenomenon. Iban mothers are so aware that they have to send their children to school no matter what....

NO MATTER WHAT.....

Monitor Lizard Meat

From a young age I was exposed to eating of wild exotic meat especially monitor lizard meat. It was only later that I stopped myself from eating it.

My Nang Chong uncles used to kill lots of snakes and monitor lizards with their guns before 1963 (the year Foochow villagers had to surrender their guns to the government. Most of the Foochows owed air guns to protect their farms (animals and family members). Very few Foochow villagers trapped animals in those days. Cartridges were cheap by the dozen in fact.

Recently living by the banks of the Lusut River in Miri I find that there are plenty of monitor lizardsm big ones and small ones...and baby ones. I even had one which came by the backyard every day for more than 6 months and then someone must have killed it for lunch.

Recently my husband bought a new gun and as he can not longer for for long hunting trips, he will kill some monkeys and monitor lizards which came as marauders in our backyards. Our fruits and our yard animals like geese and even small puppies have been taken by perhaps these visitors.

We have on a few occasions shot monitor lizards and my husband had them dressed and asked a friend Gilbert to come and collect the meat for his family's dinner, or soup of the tail for his wife. Gilbert is also the beneficiary of the monkeys shot by the new gun,

Note: monitor lizards are good climbers. I have taken a nice photo of a climbing monitor lizard on a coconut tree. So never be surprised when you are in Sarawak.
 

Cheng Dou : Staple beans in Fujian

 

One of the most popular beans in Fujian is what we Foochows call Cheng Dou.

It is broad beans. People in South east Asias eat them in the form of salted deep fried nibbles which go very well with beer.

they are also popularly served during Chinese New Year.

It was one of those lovely evenings in Fujian when I was having a nice walk with friends after a tiring day of discussion. We went out to feel the warm air in the village streets. It was lovely to discover a whole alley of farmers selling their crops. There were also other vendors who were selling their herbs.

In the setting sun we felt the vibrancy of the farmers and their enthusiasm to promote their products.

Knowing that we were definitely from "outside" they were very interested in showing us what they had. some even took time to describe where they came from and the various prices for their products!! they did know their products very well.

I was glad I chose to have some free time to walk down the streets to learn about local culture.

There are many ways of cooking fresh broad beans. the lady in my photo is preparing them for her dinner. She can stir fry the broad beans with Chinese sausages or with potatoes. Broad beans can just be boiled in salt water and eaten in a salad with other raw vegetables.

The westerners love broad beans in soups, some times as a delightful creamy soup.  Cooked Broad beans can also be blended with cooked potatoes and cooked with ham to make a very nice soup.

The list can go on and on.

It is nice to eat fresh broad beans.

However one has to be cautious not to eat too much braod beans as one may develop allergies. Pregnant women are also advised not to eat too much broad beans.

Sibu Tales : Foochow Bank - The Hock Hua

 the Hock Hua Bank was the first Foochow bank in the country of Sarawak in 1952. It was wholly owned by the Foochows from Sibu. 

This photo shows the first Board of Directors of the Bank. Interestingly there are two groups of Foochows here, the Kutien and the Minqing. 

Back Row : from left Chang Ta Kang, Wong King Huo, Ting Lik Hung, xx, Tiong Kung Ping xx

Front Row : from left Tiong Wang Ming, Ling Chu Ming, xx Wong Sing Keng, xx

Like any business enterprise, the bank had changes in shareholders. Some stayed while some left for reasons best known to the shareholders behind the closed doors.

However after Malaysia was formed, and many years later, Hock Hua Bank had to close under new government directives, thus ending a very unique bank owned by just a small group of Foochows.

By the 21st century, a ethnic based bank like Hock Hua no longer could prevail in a multi racial country like Malaysia.